Friday, March 10, 2017

A Mother’s Take: Speaking Up

Recently, I attended a book launch for “Fred Korematsu Speaks Up,”
sponsored by Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Los Angeles and written
by Stan Yogi and Laura Atkins. Stan Yogi and I worked on Okaeri 2016
together, and I wanted to support him. I also wanted to learn more about
this courageous man whose image I recently saw Google change their home
page icon to on Jan. 30. This day had been chosen because in 2010, the
Governor of California signed the legislative bill establishing Fred
Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. It was also
Fred’s birthday. This was the first statewide day in U.S. History named
after an Asian American.

What struck me deeply at this book event was that Fred’s children did
not know what their father had done until they heard about him from
others. He had stayed silent about his defiance of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which allowed the military to
imprison close to 120,000 Japanese American citizens and send them off
to desolate areas of the country...(Read More)

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I am a wife and a mother of two sons, Aiden and Stefen. By day I am an educational consultant and advocate for the LGBT community. My other passion is to share stories about healing and hope through my writing and speaking.